The injury unit at St. John's Hospital in Limerick city is extending its opening hours and opening seven days a week from this weekend to reduce the demand on the region's acute Emergency Department at University Hospital Limerick, so that it can deal with the expected surge in Covid-19 patients.
People who have injuries such as broken bones, cuts, bruises, sprains, and burns are being asked to check into the regions three injury units based at St. Johns Hospital in Limerick and at Ennis and Nenagh general hospitals.
The injury clinic at St. Johns Hospital will open 7 days a week from 8am to 7pm from this weekend.
The clinics at Nenagh and Ennis hospitals are both open seven days a week from 8am to 8pm.
Dr. Gareth Quin, Consultant in emergency medicine at University Hospital Limerick and at St. John's encouraged patients with these types of injuries to attend the clinics and not overwhelm the regions ED.
He said they have teams of experienced doctors, nurses, radiographers and physiotherapists who can deliver expert care and treatment for a wide range of injuries including broken bones, dislocations, sprains, wounds scalds and minor burns.
Dr. Quin said: "We anticipate that the Emergency department at UHL will become extremely busy with coronavirus patients and, to reduce demand on them, will direct patients with minor injuries to St. Johns, Ennis and Nenagh where our well established injury units will provide an excellent service to patients with these types of injuries.
"Outside of the opening hours they may defer care until the next day, or attend University Hospital Limerick, but they will be seen and treated in a part of the hospital outside of the ED as all query Covid-19 patients will be managed there.
Dr. Quin said he wanted to reassure the people of the Mid West that patients requiring emergency treatment for heart attacks, strokes and other serious illnesses will continue to be treated "to the best of our ability at the ED at UHL" despite the focus of the "entire health system in the coming days, weeks, and months" turning to deal with coronavirus.
The Emergency Department at University Hospital Limerick, habitually known for being the busiest in the country, which deals with over 65,000 presentations a year, and which had a record 92 patients waiting in its ED on a day last January, has just created a completely new record.
Today is the third day in a row in which there are zero patients waiting on trolleys in its ED or on any of its wards.
